SYDNEY, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Papua New Guinea (PNG) issued warnings against potential natural disasters in the country for the next couple of months triggered by looming La Niña weather pattern, local newspaper Post Courier reported on Monday.
Meaning "the girl" in Spanish, La Niña is a complex weather phenomenon that occurs every few years. It could bring higher than normal rainfall to PNG, causing flash flooding, sea level rising and landslides across the country, which may lead to new disease outbreak and threaten the nation's food and water security, the report cited local emergency responding officials.
It was estimated by international scientific research that there was a 75 percent chance the weather phenomenon will happen in PNG this year, affecting most areas of the pacific island country from November 2020 till January 2021 at least, according to the report.
PNG'S National Disaster Centre official said they would activate its preparedness and response mechanism during the period to coordinate the natural disaster response from different agencies and urged local communities living along coastal lines, low laying areas or mountain slopes to take extra precautions to avoid losses.